

ADDRESS 



TIKI.IVF.RKD TITIFOUK Tlir. 



m 







T^P) LITERARY SOCIETIES 



WAKE FOREST COLLEGE, 



xr^ 



c- 



JUNE 9, 1882. 



HON. ROMUTJTS M. SAUNDERS. 



:P«fefRj.<i I.J oitfi of t?K '^\y\\m.KX\)i%\m ijodfhn 



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^ RALEIGH; 



PRINTED P.Y WILLIAM W. HOLDEN. 

^ 1852. ^ 



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ADDRESS 



DEtlTERED BEFORE THE 



TWO LITERARY SOCIETIES 



WAKE EOREST COLLEGE, 



JUNE 9, 1852, ^<<^^N^ 

BT ^^ 

HON, ROMULUS M. SAUNDERS. 



^utlf^fjelJ l)g orlJn of t^e ^■5ilomatf;fgkn ^ocietg. 



S RALEIGH: 

PRINTED BY WILLIAM W. HOLDEN. 



Philomathesian Hall, June lOtb, 1852. 
Sir: 

The undersigned have been appointed, by the Philooaathesian 
Society, to return you its most sincere thanks for your very able and 
instructive Address delivered before the two Literary Societies of this In- 
stitution, and to request a copy for publication. 

With great respect, 

A. J. Rogers, 
Wm. Brinkley, 
Wm, C. Finch, 
CommiUee. 
Hon. E. M. Saunders. 



Wake Forest, June 10th, 1852, 
Gentlemen : 

I am favored with your note of this date ; and if I have been so 
fortunate in my address as to have presented an historical epitome of the 
State, in a way to claim the approbation of the Society, and to excite in 
its members a more lively interest in our State's history, it will ever be 
to me a source of pleasing recollection. 

The address is at your disposal, Avith many thanks for the obliging 
attentions of the Committee. 

Most respectfully, &c. 

R, M. Saunders. 
To A. J. Rogers, 
Wm. Brinkley, 
Wm. 0. Finch, 

Committee. 



ADDRESS. 



Young Gektlemen ok the Euzelian and Philomathesian Societies : 

Nineteen years have elapsed since the General 
Assembly of the State incorporated "The Trustees 
of the Wake Forest Institute," and five years there- 
after, by an amendatory act, enlarged its charter into 
that of "The Trustees of Wake Forest College," 
for the promotion of learning and virtue, with the power 
"of conferring all such degrees and marks of Literary 
distinction as are usually conferred in Colleges or 
Universities. " During this long and anxious period, the 
Trustees have had great embarrassment and many 
difficulties to encounter, which they have met with that 
manly resolution, that entitles them to the thanks and 
gratitude of the community. 

Nothing, I assure you, could have induced me to 
place myself before you, in obedience to the call of one 
of your Literary Societies, but a desire to gratify my 
young friends, and at the same time to second as far as 
may be in my power, the efforts of those who are dis- 
playing such a commendable zeal in sustaining the 
fortunes of this Institution. Why this large and re- 
spectable assemblage on the present as well as upon 
many previous occasions, but ihe great interest on the 
part of the public, for the advancement and prosperity 
of the College ? What brings together the father and 
mother, the brother and sister, as well as so many 
anxious friends and relatives, but their deep solicitude 
for your individual encouragement ? It is an occasion 
well calculated to excite the youthful mind and to make 



a, deep jjiiprcssioii upon iIk).->c wliu arc cullcil to Uike 
part ill lliese interesting ceremoiiieis. It is not one o( 
those sj3ectacles where we are obliged to court the 
illusions of" fancy, and where a single touch of" the wand 
of reason dispels the enchantment. Here all is real, 
affecting, and interesting. Indulge me, then, while 
catching the glow of that oeneral interest which the 
occasion has kindled, I venture to address you on a 
subject whicli, however void of novelty, cannot fail to 
command attention. And as my purpose in appearing 
before you, is that of being useful, rather than from any 
expectation of literary distinction, I feel that I cannot so 
well advance my object as by exciting in your youthful 
bosoms an ardent devotion and manly pride, in whatever 
concerns the character, honor, and fame of our native 
land. To this end, I shall call your attention to The 
early History and present Resources of the State. I de- 
sign to vindicate the truth of history, and flatter myself 
in being able not only to enlist you in the cause of truth, 
but to engage you as future ad vocal es for the develop- 
ment of those resources, the judicious application of 
which cannot fail to promote the improvement and ad- 
vancement of the State. If it be true, as Lord Boling- 
broke has said, and others have so often repeated after 
him, " That history is philosophy teaching by example," 
then no study can be more useful to the ingenious 
youth seeking the improvement of the mind, than the 
history of his own country; nor examples more inter- 
esting for his contemplation than the distinguished men 
who have contributed so largely to the foundation of the 
republic. If this is to be the theatre of your future 
actions, whether your object be the pulpit, the forum, 
the halls of legislation, or the cultivation of the soil. 
the history of your own, your native land, will pros e 
alike pleasing and inblruelive. Here you will learn the 



trials and sufferings which the early settlers had to en- 
counter in order to gain an abiding place in the New 
World; and what the humble Christian had to endure 
in being allowed the high privilege of worshipping the 
Great Creator according to the dictates of his own con- 
science. Here, too, you will be able to trace and to 
study the rise and progress of the laws, from their first 
rough sketches to their more perfect enactments, and 
the causes and occasions which called them forth in the 
government of an infant community. Here, likewise, 
you will learn and be able to appreciate the wrongs 
and oppressions which drove our forefathers from their 
mother land, ard induced them to seek an asylum in 
the wilderness, through whose dusky shades the wild 
savage wandered, and by his horrible yells disturbed 
the intrepid settler in his humble cottage. 

Yet I very much fear, notwithstanding these general 
inducements, this branch of science is too much neglec- 
ed, or if studied at all, but superficially. When a few 
years since a foreign journal in criticising an American 
work, asked with an insolent sneer, " Who was Patrick 
Henry " ? we felt inclined to smile at the ignorant im^ 
pertinence ; and yet, I doubt if our youth and even those 
of riper years, are free from the reproach of neglecting 
the study ol their own State's history for less valuable 
information. This may be owing in part to the fact, 
that we have no State historian calculated to interest 
the reader by his classical style or the beauty of his 
narration. And yet w^e have, as general historians, a 
Marshall, a Ramsay and a Bancroft of high character, 
nvith a Williamson and Martin, and more recent inter- 
esting sketches of the State ; and though the former of 
these State historians may be somewhat dull and 
monotonous, still they are calculated to afford informa- 
tion of value to a North- CaroHna reader. Into some 



of these matters it is my purpose to inquire, and to 
vindicate as far as I may be able, and the truth shall 
warrant, some things, in which, as I think, injustice has 
been done to the State. The discovery by Columbus 
of a New World, is the most memorable event in the 
annals of the age. His bold and resolute spirit had 
well nigh sunk under the repeated disappointments to 
which he was subjected, before embarking in his noble 
enterprise. It was reserved for a female, Isabella the 
Catholic of Spain, to furnish the means of enabling him 
to engage in his hazardous undertaking. The most 
interesting narrative of his first voyage is to be found 
in the pages of Robertson and Irving. And it remains 
a disputed point, which of these authors is most to be 
admired in his descrij)tion of this highly exciting event. 
No reader can rise from the chapters in which are given 
the details of the voyage, its various and trying incidents 
and its triumphant result, without having his feelings 
excited beyond the power of language to describe. 
But the narrative, however eloquent the language, thril- 
ling the events, or beautiful the description, is lost in the 
mighty event which it records. " Columbus, " says the 
Scotch historian, "was the first European who set foot in 
the New World, which he had discovered. He landed 
in a rich dress and with a naked sword in his hand. 
His men followed, kneeling down they kissed the ground 
which they had so long desired to see. They next 
erected a crucifix and prostrating themselves before it, 
returned thanks to God, for conducting their voyage to 
such a happy issue"; when they took possession of 
the country with the most impressive formalities, for' 
the Crown of Castile and Leon. The grandeur and 
success of the mighty event leaves it in doubt whether 
we are most to admire the profound sagacity of him 
who conceived the thought of the discovery of a New 



World, or tlie persevering industry and undaunled Ijold- 
ness witli which he carried it into execution. It rniglit 
be hiohlv interestino- to follow the OTeat discoverei: 
throuoh his various trials, to the end of his illustrious 
career, but that other matters claim our attention. It 
may not, however, be out of place to say that Columbus, 
after spending many years in the service of /Spain, 
finally returned to claim at the hands of its sovereign, 
the restoration of "his honors and estates" of which he 
had been so wrongfully deprived. Ferdinand only 
amused him with fair words and empty promises, until 
worn out by the fatigue and hardships he had suffered, 
and broken down by his infirmities, he sunk to his grave 
with that composure of mind becoming his high charac- 
ter, and closed his eventful life, wath words, as recorded 
by Irving, evincing the deepest feeling of piety — ■'■'■In 
manus tiias Domine commendo, S]piritu7n meum.'" Into 
thy hands, O Lord, I commend my sj^irit ! But I pro- 
ceed. For several years the Spaniards and French 
became rivals in the discoveries which followed. The 
Southern section of North America was discovered by 
the Spaniards in 1512, to which they gave the name of 
Florida. They were the founders of St. Augustine, by 
forty years the oldest town in the United States. They 
had well nigh abandoned the country, when the French 
inspired by religious zeal and a desire to establish an 
asylum for the persecuted Huguenots and Protestants, 
engaged in these new discoveries. They were not 
more fortunate, and having left a 23art of their adventur- 
ers on the St. Johns, and given name to the country 
■ — Carolina — in honor of their sovereign, they returned 
to their homes. The Spaniards soon after returning 
to the country, destroyed their rivals, and were them- 
selves in like manner destroyed by the French, each 
leaving: behind mementoes oi" the most savage cruelty ; 



10 

thus showino ilmt ibe demons of civil and relioioii?. 
persecution liad crossed the Atlantic antl lost nothing 
of the dark biootry and vindictive spirit, which led to 
the revocation of the edict of Nantes, the massacre of 
St. Bartholomew,and the establishmentof the Inquisition. 
Hitherto the discoveries and attempts to settle and 
colonize the North American continent, had been con- 
fined to the adventurers of Sj^ain and France. The 
English now embarked in the noble but hazardous en- 
terprize. Sir Walter Raleigh, in the year 1 584, obtained 
a grant from Queen Elizabeth, for "the discovery and 
planting new lands and countries, not actually possessed 
by any Christians." He immediately fitted out two 
vessels in pursuit of the lands, which his sovereign had 
thus granted him. It is not easy to ascertain to a cer- 
tainty, the part of the coast which was first discovered 
by the adventurers. It is quite certain, however, they 
first cast anchor at Wocacan, an Island supposed to be 
among those at the mouth of Albemarle Sound. They 
entered the Sound and landed on Roanoke Island^ with- 
in the present limits of Currituck County. This, like 
several other attempts under the auspices of Sir Walter 
Raleigh, proved unsuccessful; and though he had the 
honor of planting the first English settlement in North 
America, and that withm the province of Carolina, where 
was born the first of the Saxon race in 1587 — a female,, 
christened Virginia Dare — the whole soon perished,, 
leaving no vestige behind but its new made graves 
to tell the sad tale of its brief existence. Such being 
the unfortunate result of Sir Walter Raleigh's attempts 
to plant a colony in the New World, he was forced five 
years after the date of his patent, to assign over to 
Thomas Smith and other adventurers of London, the 
rights and privileges which had been so generously 
granted him by his sovereign. But the name of Raleigh 



will ever btaiid among the liighesl and brightest oi' those, 
who first sought the colonization of the country. And 
all must lament the hard fate of " the soldier, scholar 
and statesman," who was doomed to suffer an untimely 
death, under the hands of a common executioner. In the 
Tower of London, at this day, is exhibited to the sight- 
seeing and curious, among the relics of past ages, the axe 
and the block with and on which was closed the life of 
this illustrious victim. The charge, the trial, the con- 
viction, the sentence, its suspension for fifteen years and 
final execution, under which the atrocity was perpe- 
trated of ordering him to be beheaded, drawn and 
quartered — alike disgraceful to the King, his Attorney 
General and Judc^es — altoo-ether constitute one of the 
most extraordinary and unparalelled occurrences in the 
annals of judicial mairders. What would be thought 
at the i^resent day, of an Attorney General who could 
use, or of a Judge who could permit such terms as 
*' Traitor, Monster, Viper and Spider of Hell," to be 
applied to one on trial for his life, and that one of the 
most illustrious men of the kingdom, and whose only 
provocation was the defence of himself, "with temper, 
eloquence, and courage" ? Never, perhaps, has any case 
occurred so fully illustrative of the justice of the response 
as told of a Roman Enq^eror, as the case of Sir Walter 
Raleigh; when asked, "Who can be guilty, if it be 
sufficient to deny ?" " And who," answered the noble 
Roman, " can be innocent, if it be sufficient to accuse ! " 
Here accusation suppned the place of prool^ and denial 
was construed into guilt. But, I am proud to say, the 
Legislature of our own State, in 1792, sought to blot 
out this foul stain from the memory of this great man, 
by giving his name to our State Capitol — esto perpetna. 
The London Company, on the attainder of Sir Wal- 
ter Raleigh for High Treason, obtamed m IbOb", a new 



1:2 ' 

charier Iroui the crt)\vii, exlciitliuy over llie pruviuce.s 
of Virginia and Carolina, which they managed by a 
Governor and Council. This Company enlisted in its 
service, the celebrated John Smith, already distinguish- 
ed by his chivalrous adventures and bold intrepidity, 
and who became still more famous in being saved by 
the intrepid Pocahontas, and as the founder of the 
Colony from which Virginia and Carolina were peopled. 
The Company, under various changes of fortune, con- 
tinued its existence until 1624, when a judgment of 
forfeiture was had against it, and the succeeding year 
its patent cancelled and the Company dissolved. From 
this period during the reign of Charles the first, and 
the Protectorate of Cromwell, little occurs of that pe- 
culiar interest to claim an especial notice ; as in a dis- 
course of his kind, simple allusion must supply the 
place of full detail. The intolerant spirit of civil and 
religious persecution, which had forced many a victim 
to abandon the mother country, and to take refuge in 
the Colonies, comjDelled them to fiee still further into 
the wilderness, to avoid the power of their persecutors. 
The peace-abiding Quaker, and unoffending sectarian, 
were thus obliged to fly or suffer under ecclesiastical 
and civil despotism. They sought the banks of the 
Roanoke and Chowan, then the abode of the wild sav- 
age, as a retreat from the persecutions of civilized men, 
and where there existed no legitimate government to 
oppress them. Here the founders of the Albemarle 
Colony were allowed, for near tvi^enty years, to enjoy 
freedom of conscience and a e^overnment of their own 
choice. But they were not thus to elude "the powers 
that be." Charles the 2nd had been restored to his 
throne. Of this Kino- it has been recorded that "he 
never said a foolish thing, nor ever did a wise one"; yet 
lip rerlTiinlv eviu'^cH his snoaciiv and loresiolit-. l)y the 



favor and eiicoiiragenieut he extended to the American 
Colonies. Having obtained the concurrence of his 
Council in 23ronouncing the previous grants and c^iarterS 
null and void for their non user, in 1663 (as en- 
larged two years thereafter) he granted the Province 
of Carolina from "about 36° 30' north latitude, west- 
wardly to the South Seas," to the Duke of Albemarle, 
Earl of Clarendon, and six others, as Lords Proprietors, 
who obtained the country under pretence of "a pious 
zeal for the promotion of the gospel," and used it to admin- 
ister to their own wealth and dignity. The province was 
divided into two Counties, the Albemarle, bordering on 
the Roanoke, and Clarendon, on the Cape Fear. Wil- 
liam Drummond was the first Governor ; and according to 
Bancroft, so carelessly has the Plistory of the State been 
written, that neither his name, merits, or end are cor- 
rectly stated. He is represented to have been a man 
of prudence and judgment, deeply imbued with a 
passion for popular liberty ; and after instituting a simple 
form of government, suitable to the condition of an in- 
fant people, he left them to the free exercise of their 
own consciences and the restraint of laws of their own 
making. The first Assembly, of wdiich we have any 
authentic account, was held in 1669, and though there 
existed no press in the country for many years there- 
after, (Swan's collections of acts, printed by James 
Davis, Newbern 1752,) the laws then enacted were con- 
firmed, re-enacted and of binding power for more than 
half a century. The Lords Proprietors were not dis- 
posed to leave the Colony to the operaJ:ion of laws in 
accordance with the habits and taste of the people, but 
desired to have a government to "agree as nearly as 
possible to the Monarchy of which it was a part, and 
to avoidcreating a numerous Democrac}^" To effect 
rhis. they assigned the duty fo the Earl of Shaftsbury, a 



14 

uiiin oi' (Jistiiiijuisiicd talent:?, who culled to his aid 
the celebrated John Locke, who produced a code, styled 
the "Fundamental Constitutions"; and most fitly has it 
been pronounced by a competent judge, "never did 
Imnian ingenuity devise a more striking specimen of 
inveterate lolly." A system of government, with its 
badges of aristocracy and vassalage, for an infant colony 
of some six thousand inhabitants, sufficiently demon- 
strates, however profound its author may have been as a 
metaphysician, that he was mostsingularly deficient as a 
practical politician. The attempt on the part of the 
Proprietors to enforce their favorite code, was met by 
the Colonists with the most decided opposition. The 
contest became warm and the parties were designated as 
the Court and Country — the lloyalist and Republican 
parties of the mother country. The Royalists claimed 
the right of prohibiting the Colonies from exporting 
their produce anywhere but to the mother country and 
of levying taxes at will, v\^ithout the consent of the latter. 
This enforcement of the navigation act and the imposi- 
tion of a tax of a penny a pound on Tobacco shipped 
from the Colony, led to open resistance. And we have 
in this act of resistance on the part of the people of 
Albemarle, an exhibition of the revolution in miniature. 
Yet it has been represented b}^ one of the historians of 
the State, as evidence of a disorderly and revolutionary 
spirit, and the leader as deserving the gibbet for his 
attempt to excite the "poor to plunder the rich." 
Whereas, the truth of history exhibits it as the first 
practical denial of the power of Parliament to tax the 
Colonies in derogation of their chartered rights. This 
was in 1677. The people of Albemarle were triumph- 
ant — ^the royal tax-gatherer was forced to give up his 
ill-gotten gains and fled the country in order to com- 
plain to ihc Lords Proprietors. He was followed by 



15 

the bold leader, John Culpeper, who justified his con- 
duct and claimed to be tried by a Jury of the vicinage. 
Thus was raised, for the first time in regard to the 
Colonies, the celebrated question, which in after times 
became a ground of complaint in the Declaration of 
Independence — how far it was competent to try an 
American Colonist charged with treason before an 
English Court and Jury. The question was decided 
against the accused ; he was tried and acquitted by the 
jury under the influence of Earl Shaftsbury, then the 
prime minister of the realm. It has been remarked by 
an eloquent English historian, "the primary and most 
efficient characteristic of a limited monarchy is, that 
money can only be levied upon the people through the 
consent of their representatives" ; and he adds, "the most 
brilliant diadem in the coronet of British liberty, is the 
representation in the House of Commons and the trial 
by jury," — and to which I would add. Religious tolera- 
tion and a Free Press, as the two brightest gems in the 
diadem of a representative government. And yet, not- 
withstanding this proud boast, w^e have in the liumble 
transaction to which I have been referring, an attempt 
on the part of Englishmen to violate these great princi- 
ples, so indispensable to the prol ection of life and pro- 
perty. And what is more to my purpose, we have in 
the record of this remote affair, the first successful as- 
sertion of these rights on the part of the Colonists, and 
there discover the cradle in which was rocked the 
infant spirit, that one hundred years thereafter animated 
our forefathers in the great contest of 1776. 

I hasten with all possible brevity to events of greater 
magnitude and which entitle the State to still higher 
distinctions. • In the year 1729 the government was 
changed from proprietary 1 o that of royal — the Lords 
Proprietors, with the exception of the Earl Granville, 



having surrendered their charter to ilie Crown. Hence- 
Ibrth the Colony is placed under the authority of royal 
Governors; commencing with Governor Burrington, 
continued under Governors Johnston, Dobbs and Tryon, 
and terminating witli Governor Martin, a 2)eriod of 
forty -seven years. I shall not attemjjt to trace the his- 
tory of the Colon}', its various incidents and vicissitudes 
during this very imjjortant period, farther than may be 
necessary to the introduction of the subjects it is my 
purpose ^particularly to examine. Most justly has it 
been remarked by a sagacious and intelligent historian 
of our own country, "that between limited monarchy 
and representative government, there seems to be no 
ground for political happiness." As we have seen, there 
had been the most incessant contentions between the 
proprietors and the inhabitants ; and even after the 
government of the Colony came under the authority of 
the Crown, things in this respect did not greatly improve. 
The government, as conferred on the Colony, purported 
to be after the model of the British Constitution. It 
consisted of a Governor, Council and Assembly — the 
Governor and Council appointed by the Crown, the 
Assembly by the people, the Governor having the 
power to convene, prorogue and dissolve the Assembly, 
as well as to veto its laws ; and such as he sanctioned, 
had still to be approved by the Crown, while Parlia- 
ment claimed the omnipotent power of creating laws at 
its discretion. Although the Colony increased, in popu- 
lation and wealth under the royal government, it was 
not long before the great contest arose between the 
j)rerogatives of the Crown and the liberty of the subject. 
In the year 1765, Governor Tryon succeeded to the 
government of the Colony — a year memorable in our 
Colonial histor}*, for those Parliamentary enactments, 
wliioli soon produced an open rupture. In this year 



17 

was passed the celebrated vStamp Act, and, though re- 
pealed the year following, it was but a few years before 
taxes were imposed on other articles, and the King 
advised that all such as might refuse payment should 
be brought to Eno^land for trial. This assertion of the 
right of taxation on the part of Parliament, without the 
consent of the Colonies, was most manfully resisted, and 
no where with more spirit than by the Colonists of North 
Carolina. The Assembly, as early as 1769, "Resolved, 
that the sole right of imposing taxes on the inhabitants 
of North Carolina has ever been vested in the House 
of Assembly, and that trials for treason, committed in 
the Colony, ought to be had here, and the removal and 
trial of suspected persons beyond sea is derogatory of 
the rights of British subjects." The Governor declared 
this resolution "had sapped the foundation of confidence 
and gratitude," and thereupon dissolved the Assembly. 
I am forced to pass over an occurrence which transpired 
about this time, and which I would gladly notice, but 
for the fear of being tedious. I allude to the measures 
as adopted by the Regulators, and which led to an open 
rebellion. This transaction has been highly colored by 
our early historians, as is clearly evinced by the original 
documents, as recently obtained from the Foreign Office 
in England and published by Mr. Wheeler in his valu- 
able " Sketches of the State." These documents fully 
show, whatever may have been said or written on the 
subject, and into whatever excesses the Regulators may 
have been driven, that they were greatly oppressed by 
the most shameful extortions, and were quite as much 
sinned against as sinning. I cannot fail to notice the 
spirited reply of the principal leader of the Regulators 
when called on by the Governor for his taxes, which 
shows the true character of the transaction : " We pay 
to honest men, and not to swindlers." 



18 

( proceed willi my narrative. In 1771 Gcwernor 
Marlin, the last of tlie royal Governors, was appointed 
to the government of the Colony. He had neither tlie 
talent, discretion or abilities to qualify him for the station 
to which he was called. I cannot dally by the way, 
but hasten on to those acts of a belligerent character, 
which led to open revolution. The first of these was 
the%ppointment by the Assembly in 1773, of a com- 
mittee of vigilance and correspondence, with directions 
to inform themselves as to the proceedings of the min- 
istry of a hostile tendency, and to the injury of the 
Colonies. This was the first important step, looking to 
a direct concert of action with the other Colonies. It 
was followed by public meetings in the several counties 
and principal towns, recommending the appoint ment of 
delegates to a general Convention, to be held in New- 
berne. The first provincial Congress accordingly as- 
sembled in Newberne. in Auoust, 1774. A Continental 
Congress had also been proposed, to consist of delegates 
from each of the Colonies. Our Provincial Congress 
promptly responded to this call, and appointed Richard 
Caswell, William Hooper, and Joseph Hughes as its 
deleo;ates to the Continental Cong^ress. This august 
body met in Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774. 
It is said, "a silence, awful and protracted, preceded 
the breaking of the last seal," and that astonishment 
and applause filled the House, when this was announced 
by Patrick Henry. They adopted a declaration of 
rights — pointed out the difterent acts of Parliament, 
held in violation of their privileges — recommended the 
formation of associations with the proper test, and pas- 
sed with great unanimity a resolution enjoining ujion 
all true friends of the country, non-importation^ non- 
consumptio7i, and non-exportation of any article from or 
to the mother country ; \\\\\?- imposing on themselves 



19 

a system ol" disinterested self-denial, eniorced by no 
law nor guarded by any penal sanction, but resting en- 
tirely on the patriotism of the people, and their devotion 
to the common cause, and carried out in a way that 
challenges its equal in the history of the world. The 
Provincial Congress, after the adoption of a resolution 
" against the power of taxation, except with the con- 
sent of the representatives of the people, and any other 
tax a gross violation of the great charter of their liber- 
ties," adjourned, subject to the call of their Moderator. 
The second Provincial Conoress was again held in 
Newberne, in April, 1775, and met on the same day with 
that of the Colonial Assembly. John Harvey, of the 
County of Perquimons,was elected Speaker of the As- 
sembly and Moderator of the Congress, The Governor 
had endeavored to deter the people from electing, and 
the delegates from holding, their Congress. But neith- 
er were to be deterred by his royal menaces. The fact 
that John Harvey should have been elected, and have 
had the boldness to preside over both Assemblies, evi- 
denced the spirit of the times, and that they were men, 
neither to be alarmed or seduced by the powers or smiles 
of those in authority. If we are allowed to judge of the 
character of the man by the part he was called upon to 
act — the duties he discharged — the flattering resolution 
of thanks voted by the bodies over which he presided — 
I should say John Harvey must have been a man of 
highly reputable talents, courteous in his address, dili- 
gent in the discharge of his duties, and that he could not 
fail to impress upon his associates his entire fitness to 
enjoy their full confidence. But the cause of the coun- 
try was not long to have the benefit of his valuable 
services. He was cut off' at a time when his ardent 
patriotism must have been most sensibly excited by the 
stirring events then daily gaining fresh interest, and in 



which doLiblless he would lia\'e borne a conspicuous 
part. He was lield, as I learn from a private source, in 
great esteem, and his death dee])ly lamented. The 
Provincial Congress elected their delegates to the Con- 
tinental Congress, whose acts they highly approved, 
and having denounced the proclamation of the Governor 
interdicting their meeting as "a wanton and arbitrary 
exercise of power," they adjourned, subject to the call 
of their Moderator. The Colonial Assembly being 
equally refractory with that of the people's Congress, 
were dissolved after a session of only four days. The 
third Provincial Congress was assembled in Hillsborouo^h 
in August, 1775, and so general had been the feeling of 
discontent, and so determined the spirit of resistance, 
that 184 members attended, every county and town in 
the Colony being represented. They came to the 
solemn resolution, "That the Parliament of Great Brit- 
ain had no right to impose taxes upon the Colonies, or 
to regulate their internal police ; and that all such at- 
tempts should be resisted to the utmost, and they would 
cheerfully bear their proportion of the expense neces- 
sary for the supjDort of an army." This resolution 
speaks the language of open resistance, and that the 
Colonists hadtakentheir position and nerved their sjoirits 
for the contest, however hazardous the result. They 
accordingly appointed a Provincial Council with execu- 
tive powers, Committee of safety, with county and town 
Committees, who were armed with full jiower for the 
government of the province. The Continental Con- 
gress re-assembled at Philadelphia, on the 10th of May, 
1775, an assembly as has been justly stated, "one of the 
most august the world has ever witnessed." It continu- 
ed in session, with short intervals, until after the declara- 
tion of Independence. On assembling, they found all 
hopes of peace hud ilcd. and that preparations ibr a 



21 

■ it 

Vigorous resistance were loudly called I'or. ^ On the 
15tli June, George Washington was appointed com- 
mander-in-chief of the American forces, with a pledge 
that they would "assist and adhere to him with their 
lives and fortunes." In the meantime, General Gage 
had opened the bloody drama of war at Lexington on 
the 19th April, 1775. I have thus anticipated, in some 
degree, the important movement, to which I purpose to 
call your especial attention, it being necessary to have 
these dates and events distinctly stated, in order fully 
to appreciate the momentous occurrence which I now 
design to examine, and which I am frank to say was 
the great object in the selection of my subject. I allude 
to the Mecklenburg Resolves of May, 1775, one of the 
most extraordinary events in the annals of the revolu- 
tion. As the subject has and is still attracting great 
attention, you will pardon me for entering upon this 
investigation with some degree of particularity. It is 
a subject of deep interest to the State, and from what 
has transpired, I feel called upon to examine the ques- 
tion with candor, to' consult every accessible authority, 
fairly and fully to state the proofs, so that all may judge 
how the matter really stands. As I am addressing 
young gentlemen, students of the State, who should be 
accurately informed as to a point of such great moment 
in our revolutionary history, I would not knowingly 
mislead them, or leave them in error. The people of 
Mecklenburg county claim the honor of having, at 
Charlottestown on the 20th May, 1775, adopted Reso- 
lutions declaring themselves free and independent of 
the British Crown. 

The fact has been called in question — how stands 
the proofs 1 In the Raleigh Register of the 30th April, 
1819, there appeared a communication by Joseph Mc- 
Knitt Alexander, rsHtive to the Mecklenburg Declara- 



22 

» 

tiou of Independence. His account, m substance, was, 
that liis father, Jolui McKnitt Alexander, (who died in 
1817,) had left in his hands certain papers, on which 
he predicated his statement; that a pubhc meeting 
had been called under the order of Col. Adam Alexan- 
der, to consist of two delegates from each Captain's 
company of Mecklenburg, to meet at Charlottestown 
on the 19th May, 1775; that the meeting was held 
accordingly, when it was organized by the appointment 
of Abraham Alexander, Chairman, and Jolm McKnitt 
Alexander, Clerk ; that after a free and full discussion 
it was Resolved, 

1. "That whoever du-ectly or indirectly abetted, or in any way, form 
or manner countenanced the unchartered and dangerous invasion of our 
rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to the Country, to 
America, and to the interests and inalienable rights of man. 

2. That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg County, do hereby dissob o 
the political bands which have connected us with the mother country, 
and hereby absolve om-selves from all allegiance to the British Crown, 
and al)jure all political connection, contract, and association with that 
nation, who have wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties, and 
inhumanly shed the blood of American patriots at Lexington. 

3. That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent peo- 
ple; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing associa- 
tion, under the control of no power, other than that of our God, and the 
General Government of the Congress ; to the maintenance of which inde- 
pendence, we solemnly pledge to each- other our mutual co-operation, our 
lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor." 

Two other resolutions were adopted, relative to the 
civil and military affairs and laws for the government 
of the country. That, after sitting in the Court House 
all night and discussing every paragraph, the resolutions 
were passed unanimously, on the 20th May, 1775. That 
Caj^t. James Jack was sent as an express with the pro- 
ceedings to be delivered to the State delegates, Richard 
Caswell, William Hooper, and Joseph Hughes, to be 
laid before Congress, then in session at riiikideliihut. 
That ihcv received for answer, ihJi'thc resolutions were 



23 

approved, but it was considered premature to lay them 
before Congress — ^that the original record of the pro- 
ceedings was burnt in Api'il, 1800, but copies had been 
sent to Hugh Williamson, then engaged in writing the 
history of the State, and to Gen. William R. Davie. 
Such is the statement as published, and the question is, 
how far is this statement corroborated or invalidated by 
the proofs ? I submit the affirmative and negative tes- 
timony, which I shall endeavor to state truly and at 
the same time with all j)ossible brevity : 

1. The testimony as collected by Col. William Polk, 
in 1820, and published in pamphlet, 1822, under his 
authority. He states, though a youth, he was present 
at the meeting, and concurs "in the correctness of the 
facts generally," as given by Dr. Alexander, except as 
to the names of the officers, in which he thinks there 
are errors. 

2. The certificate of Gen. George Graham and three 
other aged persons who state they were at the meeting, 
which was called by Col. Thomas Polk, and that Dr. 
Ephraiin Brevard was the Secretary ; the resolutions 
were drawn by him and reported from a committee on 
the 20th May; they declared "the people of Mecklen- 
burg County free and independent of the King and 
Parliament of Great Britain." The proceedings were 
sent to the Congress by Capt. James Jack, who returned 
with an answer. 

3. Letter oiJohn Simson, who says he has "conversed 
with many old friends and others — all agree as to the 
main point, but few can state the particulars." The 
order for the meeting was given by Col. Thomas Polk ; 
the declaration was drawn by Dr, Brevard, cannot speak 
with certainty as to dates — thinks "the close of May," 
and that Thomas Polk, John Phifer, and Joseph Kennedy 
were appointed a committee to collect military stores. . 



3t 

4. Francis Cunwiins says, lie wa:? a stiidont in tbo 
Cliieen's Museinn, a college in Charlotte ; that many of 
the citizens of Mecklenburg held a public meeting in 
1775, at the Court House and proclaimed Independence 
by their herald, Col. Thomas Polk. 

5. The certificate of Capt, James Jack, who says he 
was present and heard the "resolutions proclaimed 
from the Court House door" ; that he was the bearer 
of the proceedings, in June, and delivered "the Meck- 
lenburg Declaration of Independence of May, 1775, 
to the State deles^ates in Congress." Such is the 
testimony as published in the Polk pamphlet of 1822. 
The General Assembly, at its session of 1830, appoint- 
ed a committee to "examine, collate, and arrange all 
such documents as might be accessible, touching the 
Declaration of Independence by the citizens of Meck- 
lenburg County." From the pamphlet as thus published 
under the authority of the Legislature, 1 give the ad- 
ditional testimony: 

1. The certificate of Dr. Henderson, November, 
1830, that he found among the papers of Gen. W. R. 
Davie, soon after his death, 1820, a paper which he 
recognized asbeino^ in the hand writinof of John McKnitt 

• Alexander, and which he gave to his son Dr. Alexander. 
This paper is identical with that as published in the 
Register of 1819, and is dated September, 1800. 

2. Letter of Gen. Joseph Graham, October, 1830. 
He states he was at this meeting, then about sixteen 
years of age; on the 20th May, after organizing and 
much discussion "the question was taken, and they 
resolved to declare themselves independent." That as 
"the King or Ministry had by proclamation declared 
the Colonies out of the protection of the British crown; 
they ought to declare themselves out of his allegiance, 
and resolve an independence" ; that Dr. Brevard re- 



ported the resolutions, "as near as he can recollect in 
the very words since seen in print." 

3. Rev. Humphrey Hunter s memoir: That the five 
resolutions, as now published, were rej^orted and adop- 
ted, and on the 20th May, Dr. Brevard appointed to 
draft "a definite statement of grievances, together with 
a more correct and formal declaration of Independence." 
The memoir states the author being present on the 20th 
May, 1775, "was a deeply interested spectator, was 
then 20 years and 14 days old." This is clearly an 
error, as he says he was born the 14th May, 1775. So 
that whether you calculate according to the Julian or 
old style or according to the Gregorian or neiv style, 
which commenced in England in 1752, neither com- 
putation would correspond with the 19th or 20th May. 
The memoir is dated in 1827, and appears to be a re- 
sponse to a request made by Dr. Alexander, and thus 
loses, in some degree, the authority to which it might 
otherwise have been entitled, had it been a contempor- 
aneous production. 

4. Letter of Johii Davidson, October 1830. He 
says : "John McKnitt Alexander and myself were chosen 
from our company." After being organized "a motion 
was made to declare ourselves independent of the 
Crown of Great Britain and carried by. a large majori- 
ty." He does not speak particularly as to date, further 
than it was before the national declaration. Capt. Jack 
carried on the proceedings, and brought back an answer. 

Such is the published testimony ; to which I add a 
verbal statement of Judge Cameron, a gentleman dis- 
tmguished for the tenacity of his memory, as to names, 
dates and facts, and whose statement of any thing coming 
within his own recollection is entitled to the most im- 
plicit credit. He states he formed the acquaintance of 
John McKnitt Alexander as early as 1797 — who was 



■2r< 

a highly respcctabblc old man ; that he conversed 
with him freely on the subject of the Mecklenburg meet- 
ing, and he uniformly gave him the same account as to 
the Declaration of Independence; that he saw him 
in 1800 after the burnino- of his house ; that after naming 
the fact he added most emphatically, ''hut, Cameron, the 
document is safe, as I gave a copy in my own haincl writing 
to Gen. W. R -Davier 

This closes the affirmative testimony. I shall now 
give some important documentary evidence, which has 
come to light since the foregoing has been published, 
and which, as I presume, may be considered negative 
testimony : 

1. The letter of the Hon. Israel Pickens, a native 
of Mecklenburg and for some years a member of Con- 
gress from this State, dated March, 1823. He says, 
"he had rejDcated conversations with John McKnitt 
Alexander, a venerable old man, proverbial for his scrup- 
ulous accuracy in recollecting and detailing events." 
After referring to the officers and the organization of 
the meeting in Ajoril, 1775,hc adds, "The first and only 
question which gave rise to discussion was, whether it 
was then expedient for the County to declare indepen- 
dence. This question being decided in the affirmative, 
a formal declaration was unanimously passed, absolving 
the County from the British Crown." The letter adds, 
" understanding that Dr. Williamson was about to write 
the history of North Carolina some twelve years ago, I 
apprised him of the circumstance of the Mecklenburg 
Convention. He informed me he had many years pre- 
viously been informed of it by Gen. Steel and others ; 
but compared the act of anticipation of American In- 
dependence, to that whereby Virginia had claimed the 
title of "the Ancient Dominion," on account of her having 
declared in favor r>^ Charles the 2nd some time before 



'K 



the revolution took place in England; both events 
being expected long before." 

2. Two imjjers, furnished by Dr. Alexander, who 
certifies that they were found by him among some old 
pamphlets of his father's, the one a half-sheet in the 
hand-writing of John JMcKnitt Alexander, the other a 
full sheet in some " unknown hand." These papers were 
stitched together ; the half sheet is an old pajDer, and 
from its appearance, I should say in all reasonable 
probability is the oldest manuscript account we have of 
the meeting of May, 1775. The other sheet gives the 
same statement and resolutions as published, and has 
one or two corrections in the hand writing of John 
McKnitt Alexander. The half sheet, after stating the 
meeting was held on the 19th May — ^the names of the 
chairman and secretary, proceeds, "after a free dis- 
cussion in order to give relief to America and protect 
our just and natural rights, 1st, the County, by a 
solemn and awful vote, dissolved our allegiance to King- 
George and the British nation. 2nd, declared ourselves 
a free and independent people, having a I'ight and cajp- 
ahle to govern ourselves as a part of North Carolina. 
3d, in order to have laws as a rule of life/or our future 
government, we formed a code of laws by adopting 
our former wholesome laws." Then follow the 4th and 
5th rules, substantially as those published. It states 
the resolutions were adopted on the 20th May, and a 
copy forwarded by Capt. Jack. 

3. The Resolves of the 2>lst May, 1775, as found in 
the South Carolina Gazette of the 13th June, 1775, and 
preserved in the Charleston Library: 

1. '■'■ Resolved, That all commissions, civil and military, heretofore 
granted by the Crown to be exercised in these Colonies, are null and void, 
and the Constitution of each particular Colony wholly suspended. 

2. That the Provincial Congress of each province, under the direction 
-of the great Continental Congress, is invested with all legislative and 



'2^ 

executive powers, williiu their respective provinces, and that no other 
legishitivo power does or c<an exist, at this time in any of these Colonies." 

They then go on to provide a system of rules and 
regulations for the government of the Colony, until such 
time as others may be passed by the Continental Con- 
gress. A copy of the Charleston paper containing these 
twenty resolves and signed l)y Ephraini Brevard, Clerk, 
was found in the English Foreign office, enclosed in a 
dispatch of Governor Wright of the province of Geor- 
gia. Governor Martin, in a dispatch of the 13th June, 
1775, says he encloses the Cape Fear Mercury, con- 
taining "Resolves of the Committee of Mecklenburg, 
which surpass all the horrid and treasonable publica- 
tions that the inflammatory spirits of this continent have 
yet produced." He adds, ''a copy of tliese^resolveswere 
sent off, I am informed, hy expi'ess to the Congress at 
Philadelphia as soo7i as they ivere passed in the Com- 
mittee!' The newspaper alluded to unfortunately has 
not been found. But beyond doubt, the paper contained 
the resolutiolis of the 31st May, as there exists no evi- 
dence of the publication of any other at that day. I 
here close the examination, and regret the necessity I 
have felt of ijoino- so much into detail. Yet it was 
necessary to give dates, names and acts, in order to a 
proper understanding of the question. I shall not my- 
self express any opinion as to whether the resolutions 
of the 20th May, as published, be those as adopted in 
hmc verba, as from the view I take of it, this is not a 
matter involving the main question ; on that point I give 
the facts and data, from which others may draw their 
owii conclusions. As I care not which set of resolutions 
the historic or political critic may select, whether those 
as published in the Register of 1819, or the decrees, 
as he t-erms them, of the "half- sheet," in the hand 
writing of John McKnitt Alexander, or those of the 



29 

olstMay, as Ibund in the South Carolina Gazette, the 
GREAT FACT for which I contend is conclusively 
established, so far as human testimony is capable of 
establishing any fact : That to the people of Mecklenburg 
County is clue the high honor of being the first to proclaim 
themselves Free and Independent of tlie Bi'itish Crown. 
And I care not whether you fix the date of that Procla- 
mation on the 20th or 31st of May, 1775. The fact 
stands high above all question, and must ever remain 
fixed and incontrovertible. Such was the view, such 
the understanding of the resolves of the 31st May, by 
Gov. Martin, as appears, not only from the dispatch to 
which I have already referred, but to his Proclamation 
of the 8th August, 1775, in which he calls them the 
"Resolves of a committee for the County of Mecklen- 
burg, most traitorously declaring the entire dissolution 
bf the laws, Government and Constitution of this Coun- 
try ; and setting up a system of rules and regulations 
repugnant to the laws and subversive of his Majesty's 
Government." Such too is the opinion of an eminent 
American author, Jared Sparks, who says he " does 
not consider the point (as to the authenticity of the re- 
solutions of the 20th May) as of much importance, as 
the last resolves (31st May) do not differ much in sub- 
stance and spii'it from the other paper." So considering 
the matter, I here rest the question. 

I cannot, however, leave the subject without offering 
a passing tribute to the memory of Ephraim Brevard, 
who if not the prime mover of the meeting of May, 
1775, was most certainly the author of its resolutions, 
which cast a lustre around his memory that entitles his 
name to be enrolled with the immortal Fifty -Six, who 
twelve months thereafter affixed their si Denatures to the 
declaration of the 4th July, 1776. The fact is recorded 
by the Rev. Mr. Foote in his interesting Sketches of 



30 

iSlorlh Carolina, that when a Ijritisli olhcer was asked 
why the house of the widow Brevard was burnt, and 
her farm plundered, he answered, *' Because she has 
seven sons in the rebel army !" Ephraim Brevard was 
one of these rebels and the most distinguished of these 
sons. He was a graduate of Princeton College, edu- 
cated a Physician, and early distinguished as a political 
writer in support of resistance against unwarrantable 
aggression. The paper of the 31st of May and the 
instructions to the County Delegates of a subsequent 
date, in point of style, diction and composition, as well 
as in princijile and sentiment, are quite equal to any 
productions of the day. They shew him to have been 
the scholar, republican and patriot. But his services 
were not confined to his pen ; he joined the army as a 
surgeon and w^as taken prisoner at the surrender of 
Charleston in May, 1780. How he effected his escape; 
I am not informed, though I am quite certain his proud 
spirit did not stoop to claim British "protection" as the 
price of his discharge. Like the other captives, he en- 
deavored to return to his home in the upper country, 
encountering great hardships and sufTeriug on the way . 
As the men could not venture to carry medicine and 
provisions to their relief, this office of charity was con- 
fided to the mothers, sisters and wives of the unfortunate 
sufferers. Of this number was the mother of Andrew 
Jackson, who, on her return home, being seized with a 
fever, died in a tent and was buried on the road-side, 
in an unknown grave; thus fallino- a victim in the 
cause of charity and of mercy. Woman ! 

" ! who so welcome and so proraj^t as thou. 

The battles hurried scone aud angry glow,^ 

The deatli enchclod pillow of distress — 

The lonely moments of socluded woo — 

Alike tliy care and constancy confess, 

Alike (hy pitying band and fearless fncndiship bJess.'' 



31 

Of the number thus saved, was Ephraim Brevard. 
He did not long survive, and died at the house of his 
friend, John McKnitt Alexander ; and lies buried at 
Hopewell Church, with no stone or monument to tell 
where sleeps the faithful patriot. 1 regret I have not 
been able to offer a more worthy tribute to the character 
of this virtuous man. But after all, the most eloquent 
can add little to the memorj^ of him, who thus fell in 
the service of his country. Thy name will live in 
after ages, and thy example produce in every breast 
that loves its country, the rapture and enthusiasm of 
admiration ! I trust I may be allowed to relieve the 
tedium of my discourse, by referring to another revolu- 
tionary incident, as creditable to the young ladies of 
Mecklenburg, as were the resolutions we have been 
considering, to that of the men. In the South Carolina 
Gazette of February, 1776, is to be found an editorial 
article which says, "a North Carolina correspondent 
who signs himself Pliilognmas, informs us "that the 
young ladies of the best families in Mecklenburg county 
have entered into a voluntary association, that they 
will not receive the addresses of any young gentlemen 
of that place, except the brave volunteers, who cheer- 
fully served in the expedition to South Carolina and 
assisted in subduing the Schovolite Insurgents. The 
ladies being of opinion, (God bless them !) that such 
persons as lazily stay lurking at home, when the import- 
ant calls of their country demand their military services 
abroad, must certainly be destitute of that manliness of 
sentiment, that brave manly spirit, which qualify the 
gentleman to be the defender and guardian of the fair 
sex." History tells us, when the Spartan youth departed 
to join the camp, it was customary for the mother to 
deliver him the buckler with the injunction, "Bring 
this back, or be brought upon it." So the virtuous 



32 

mother of the Gracchi, when called upon in a boastful 
way to exhibit her jewels, pointed to her sona. 
Such doubtless was the spirit that moved and animated 
the young ladies of Mecklenburg in the formation of 
their association, and which nerved so many noble 
females of the revolution to stand firm in the midst of 
danger when the stoutest hearts were made to quail. 
I proceed with my subject. The Provincial Council 
appointed by the Congress to guard the safety of the 
Colony, and to "carry out the orders of the Continental 
Congress, adopted the most energetic measures, to meet 
the threatened danger. " The first drop of blood," said 
the great Chatham " which is shed in America, will cause 
a wound which never can be healed." Prophetic an- 
ticipation! That drop of blood had been shed, and the 
ties of allegiance dissolved on the plains of Lexington, 
and the law of self-preservation invoked as alone ade- 
quate for protection. Governor Martin was forced to 
seek safety on board of a British man-of-war, in the 
Cape Fear river.' Here he issued his commissions and 
orders to such as still adhered to the royal cause. He 
commissioned General McDonald, a Highland Chief of 
influence, as his commander, and by his proclamation 
called upon all faithful subjects to rally under his banner. 
The royal standard was erected at Cross Creek, and 
fifteen hundred men rallied to its support. Col. Moore 
was in command of the Provincial troops. The royal 
General very politely proposed, that in order to* save 
him the necessity of shedding blood. Col. Moore and 
his troops should lay down their arms, take the oath of 
allegiance, and receive his JNIajesty's j^ardon. To this 
gracious invitation the rebel Colonel returned for an- 
swer, that the Royal General should himself surrender, 
subscribe the test as required by the great Continental 
Congress, and receive their protection. This answer 



was very much In the same Spartan spirit as that related 
by Governor Martin in one of his indignant dispatches 
of that date. Those rebels were most insolent fellows, 
and well calculated to disturb the equanimity of the 
Royal Courtiers. A Mr. John Ashe, as the Governor 
calls him, had been a Colonel of Militia in New Hanov- 
er, which office he resigned. Soon after he appeared 
in Wilmington, at the head of some 4 or 500 men, and 
called on the people to subscribe to the association as 
required by the committee of safety, and when asked 
for his authority, he pointed to his men. "By this 
cowardly act," says the dispatch, "the people were 
forced to comply." Whilst the negotiation was pend- 
ing between General McDonald and Col. Moore as to 
which should receive protection. Colonels Caswell 
and Lillington hastened to the scene of action with 
such of the militia and minute men as they had been 
able to collect for the occasion. They met the Royal 
General under aforced retreat at Moore's Creek Bridge, 
endeavoring to join Gov. Martin and Gen. Clinton, 
then expected on our coast with a large detachment of 
Royal troops. A severe engagement ensued at the 
Bridge, on the 27th of February, 1776, in which the 
Royalists were totally defeated, their General taken 
prisoner and several of their officers killed, and the 
army either captured or dispersed. The victory was 
complete, and considering the time, force and circum- 
stances, the result was highly to the credit of the 
patriots, and attended with the most important conse- 
quences. Great preparation had been made by the 
British Ministry in the winter of 1775-'76, under the 
calculation that they should be able at once to reduce 
the Colonies to submission. Twenty-five thousand 
troops had arrived at New York early in the Spring, 
and a large portion of this force was ordered to join 



34 

Gov. Martin. Fortunately they did not arrive in thr 
Cape Fear until after the defeat of Gen. McDonald. 
This rendered the victory the more important, as it 
dispersed the Tories, and gave new life and confidence 
to the militia. Gen. Clinton soon left the Province and 
directed his course for Charleston. He was met at 
Sullivan's Island, where he received a most disastrous 
repulse, and the fleet and army were forced to leave 
the country. I have referred to this battle as being 
among the earliest and most decisive in its consequences^ 
as well as to establish the fact, that the people of the 
Province were quite as prompt to defend their rights 
in the field as they had been resolute to assert them in 
Council. For his good conduct. Colonel Caswell re- 
ceived the thanks of the Congress at Halifax, and was 
soon after promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, 
whilst Colonel Lillington was appointed to the command 
of one of the provincial regiments. No one in the ser- 
vice of the Colony enjoyed such a long, uninterrupted, 
and unchecked popularity as did Richard Caswell. 
He entered the Colonial Assembly as early as 1754, 
then twenty-five years of age ; he was repeatedly 
elected to the Provincial Congress, and was a delegate 
to the first Continental Congress ; he was Comptroller 
and Treasurer of the State, at periods of great embar- 
rassment; President of the t^ongress, which formed the 
State Constitution; the first Governor, an office which 
he filled for several years, without compensation. In 
1789 he was a member of the Convention for the rati- 
fication of the Federal Constitution, and at the same 
time Speaker of the Senate. His highly useful life was 
here ended by a stroke of paralysis, and he sunk to his 
grave, " vvith all his country's honors blest." I come to 
the last point, I propose to notice in our Colonial his- 
torv nnd then close whnt I have to sav on this branch 



35 

of my feubject. The Continental Congress was still in 
session. On the 7th June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, 
of Virginia, submitted his celebrated resolution, "that 
these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free 
and independent States." It was referred to a com- 
mittee of the whole ; and, after several days considera- 
tion, was postponed until the first day of July, and a 
committee appointed to draft a declaration in conformity 
therewith. The Provincial Congress of North Carolina, 
as well as several of the other Colonial assemblies, were 
in session at the same time. It was an eventful period, 
and most emphatically a crisis to try men's souls. But 
the Congress of North Carolina had the high honor of 
being the first to "Resolve, that the Delegates for this 
Colony, in the Continental Congress, be empowered to 
concur with the Delegates of the other Colonies in a 
"Declaratio?i of Independence ." This spirited resolution 
was reported by Cornelius Harnett from a select com- 
mittee on the 12th April, and unanimously adopted on 
the same day. The instruction was presented to Con- 
gress on the 27th May, in anticipation of Mr. Lee's 
resolution, and faithfully carried out by the State Dele- 
gates, by affixing their names to the Declaration of the 
4th July, 1776. 

Thus was dissplved the ties of allegiance that bound 
the Colonies to the mother country. The Rubicon 
was passed, and these bold patriots had to live as free- 
men or die as traitors. However interesting it might 
be to inquire as to the part which was taken by our 
immediate ancestors in the great contest that followed, 
I am not permitted by the limits of this address to do 
so, but leave the historv and the battle-fields of Kings- 
mountain, Covvpens, Guilford and Eutaw Springs — 
battles as important and as hard fought as any during 
the revolution — to tell posterity of their existence and of 



the iiobie part vvhicli ihey acted ; wliilsL the Counties 
wliich have been honored with the names of Ashe, 
*BLirke, Caswell, Cleaveland, Davidson, Davie, Iredell, 
Jones, *]Moorc, jMcDovvell, Nash, Riitherlbrdton, and 
Stokes, men distinguished for their services in the 
Cabinet and in the field, w^ill remain as lastincj monu- 
ments of the veneration and esteem of a grateful 
country. The war was closed, freedom had triumphed 
over the combined efforts of tyranny and oppression, 
and the thirteen Colonies became free and independent 
States ! 

'• Tyrants ! in \ain ye trace tlic wizard ring ; 

In vain ye limit mind's unwearied spring : 

What ! can ye lull the winged winds asleep, 

Arrest the rolling world, or chain the deep ? 

No ! the wild wave contemns your sceptred hand : 

It roll'd not back when Canute gave command !" 

Still a great work remained to be performed. Tlie 
confederation which had carried the Colonies so tri- 
umphantly through a seven j'ears war, was found to be 
inadequate to the demands of peace. It became neces- 
sary to invoke the wisdom and patriotism of those who 
had achieved our independence to unite in the establish- 
ment of a form of government sufficiently strong to 
secure the privileges and blessings which had been so 
gloriously achieved. The voice of nature teaches man 
the important lesson, "that the greater good is to be 
preferred to the lesser," whilst jiolitical experience in- 
structs him, that the rights and privileges of the few as 
well as of the many, are alone to be secured by the 
checks and limitations of a written compact. To secure 
and perpetuate this great truth was one of the main 
objects in the formation and adoption of the federal 
Constitution. Thus the dark days of the revolution 

* In honor of Gov. Thomas Burke, act 1111. 

* Gen. .Jame« Mooro. 



37 

were closed, the anarchy and confusion that threatened 
for a time passed away, and the Constitution was ratified 
and adopted, through their State Conventions, by a 
free and sovereign people. That Constitution, to bor- 
row one of Mr. Blair's most beautiful figures, "like the 
sun after the darkness of a tempestuous night, it comes 
forth in the morning with its brightest lustre, and in- 
spires every breast with gladness, as ascending gradually 
through the heavens, it converts that whole vast extent, 
over which its beams are diffused into a reoion of liaht: 
and thus changes entirely the state of objects by array- 
ing all nature into beauty, and transferring it into the 
image of its own brightness." So, this glorious Magna 
Charta, like that resplendent luminary extendincr its 
blessings over a Union of thirteen sovereign States, with 
a territory of one million of square miles, since increas- 
ed to three millions within the existing perimeter of the 
United States, then inhabited by a population of three 
miUions, since grown and extended to thirty-one States, 
with a population of near twenty-five millions of people. 
Let me now, my young friends, and especially you 
who are soon to leave these academic shades of study 
and of science, for the busy pursuits of active life, call 
your attention to the state, condition, resources and 
advantages of our own State. Having already tres- 
passed, as I fear, too long on the patience of my audi- 
ence, I have but little time to devote to this interesting 
subject: We have in the State a population of near nine 
hundred thousand, thirty millions of acres of land, 
with a cHmate, location, soil, productions, and state of 
society quite equal to most of our sister States. Its 
climate is favorable to health, neither running into the 
extremes of heat in the summer, or the severity of cold 
in the winter. The soil, if not the most ferule, is un- 
surpassed in die variety of its staple. In a comparative 



3? 

View, Hi the pruducliuii uf Naval iStorbd, Com, 'I'obaccu, 
Wheat and Cotton, it stands abose an average rank. 
In the North and South-eastern Counties the soil is of 
great fertility, and in addition to its grain and Naval 
Stores, the Fisheries are of great value. As you advance 
into the upper country, on the Roanoke, you find the 
purest water, with every necessary for good living, cul- 
tivated and raised in great plenty, with the article of 
Tobacco for market and that of the first quality. On 
the Cape Fear and in the Southern Counties, you find 
ihe cultivation of Cotton fully rewarding the industrious 
j^lanter. In the middle and more Western Counties, 
you find the richest deposites of coal, gold, and iron, 
a climate and mountain scenery of unsurpassed beauty. 
These natural deposites of w^ealth are in the progress 
of development by an experienced Geologist of high 
character. We have six large rivers passing from the 
mountains through the State, and, though not of the 
best navigation, yet from the productiveness of the ad- 
joining valleys, holding out the strongest inducements 
to the internal improvement of the State. We have 
as markets, Wilmington, Newberne, Edenton, Wash- 
inton, and Elizabeth City, communicating with the 
Ocean, through Inlets, if not the best, sufficient for all 
of our present commercial purposes. Wilmington, 
through the energy and enterprise of her inhabitants, 
is fast concentrating capital, and forcing herself forward 
as the most commanding market in the State. Her 
success is identified with the commercial and agricul- 
tural prosperity of the State ; and I am happy to believe 
that success is certain. It was originally settled, as a 
State's historian tells us, "by merchants and tradesmen, 
invited by the depth of water, which allowed the ap- 
proach of vessels of considerable burthen," then called 
Newton, and in 1739 changed to Wilmington, in com- 



3ii 

pliment to the Earl of Wilmington, the great patron of 
the then Governor of the Colony. We have also the 
harbor of Beaufort, the best South of the Chesapeake, 
and which must, at no distant day, be connected with 
the interior improvements of the State. Here, then, we 
have a field for capital, labor, genius and enterprise, 
calling for exertion and means within the State, the 
most ample — with a taxable fund of sixty-five millions 
in Lands, whose assessed value, within a few years will 
go up to one hundred millions — taxable polls, two 
hundred thousand, one-third whites and two-thirds 
slaves — money at interest, and other investments of at 
least twenty millions, and a banking capital of five mil- 
lions, besides other objects of taxation affording certain 
means of revenue amply sufficient for every proper 
and judicious improvement. And what adds value to 
such investments, should they fail to give a profitable 
return directly, like the mountain streams, running in 
different directions, in different dimensions and at dif- 
ferent heights, watering, adorning and fertilizing the 
fields and meadows through which they pass, such works 
cannot fail to add greatly to the common property of 
the State. 

This spirit of improvement has been awakened in 
our land, and the use of that mighty power which the 
philosophers of old had not dreamed of, but which the 
genius of modern times has called into its service, and 
applied to the machinery of active life, the steam engine, 
has been made to perform, not only the labor of the 
horse, but of man, and by its varied applications and 
combinations seems almost possessed of human intelli- 
gence. The wagon is in a great measure superseded 
as a means of market transportation, and vessels of 
commerce, hitherto dependent on wind and tide, are 
now propelled by this mi<^hty power. The voyage 



•$0 

from llie new to the old world, in days past requiring 
weeks, is now the work of days. I am proud to say 
these improvements are now in rapid progress in our 
own State. We have complete, and in the process of 
construction, upwards of six hundred miles of Railroad 
improvements, connecting the Roanoke and the Cape 
Fear, the Neuse, the Tar, the Yadkin and the Catawba, 
thus removing those barriers which hitherto have made 
us an Eastern and Western people, bringing us togeth- 
er into one homopeneous mass and uniting us in one 
harmonious action. We have in progress another work 
of modern date, the Plank Road, which promises to 
revive the fortunes of another old market town, Fayette- 
ville, that so justly merits the fostering care of the State. 
And by the same means an easy transit is soon to be 
had from the Capitol of the State via Greenville to the 
nourishing town of Washington. Such are our com- 
mercial i^rospects, the great hand-maid of agriculture. 
Foi- the improvement of the mind we have a University 
amply endowed and in a most flourishing condition, 
with two Colleges liberally patronized, besides town 
and village Institutions for male and female instruction, 
not surpassed in any of the sister States. I deal not in 
mere dreams of fancy, in idle speculations, but in 
practical realities; and if there be one who claims to be 
a North Carolinian, whose heart does not glow with 
pride, and beat with pleasure at the recital of these 
flattering prospects — who does not desire to see these 
bright hopes realized and is not prepared to exclaim, 
"this is my own, my native land," then I say let him 
go down — 

" To the vilo Just from whence he sprung, 
Unwept, unhonored and unsung." 

Here I pause, and invite you to rest in your native 



41 

State — to stop thr- tide of emifirntion, and join in those 
great work? of improvement that hold out such bright 
prospects for the future. Choose you the good part. 
Take your stand in behalf of your mother land ; and 
yield not to the wretched whisperings of the political 
demagogue, or to the low grumblings and croakings of 
the discontented. March on with the improvements of 
the age, not with wild extravagance or Utopian specula- 
tions, but with that which is attainable, and within the 
means of the State, judiciously applied. This much I 
think I have the right to say, and thus far to urge you 
to go. And whilst I lay no claim to wisdom's choice 
endowments, age has sprinkled my brow with the frost 
of three-score years, hiore than one-half of which have 
been spent in the service of the public, and I feel that 
I can say, with truth and sincerity, whatever may have 
l)een the errors of my public life, I have loved and 
honored my native State, and have on all occasions 
stood ready, not regarding any political differences of 
opinion, to act and co-operate with him who has sought 
to advance her prosperity and to elevate her character. 
Insj^ired with these sentiments, I claim the right of 
addressing you in the language of counsel, of advice, 
and of admonition. Whatever may be your profession 
in life, let industry, energy, and perseverance mark 
your course, whilst truth, virtue, and integrity shall 
characterize your every act. Learn to imitate the vir- 
tuous, the wise, and the good, and obey that most sub- 
lime of all commandments, the rule of him who said to 
each and all of us, "Love your neighbor: Do unto 
others, as thou would'st be done by." Above all, I en- 
treat you to avoid those scenes of dissipation so tempting 
to youth, whose fruits however bright and sweet to the 
taste, never fail to produce those blighted hopes aid 
promises, po common in the life of man — fruits so like the 



i-A>\ct\ ;i|)|)l(js ol i.lic Dciid 8cM, Ircsli and bo:iutiriil t(< 
llic sisjlil, but, when tasted full of bitterness nud a>^iirs. 
fleject then, 1 beseech you, the poisoned cup which iIk; 
enchantress pleasure holds up to the lip, and reineiiiber 
W'hat Anacharssis hath said of the vine, "it bears the 
three grapes of Drunkenness, of Pleasure, and of Sor- 
row," and happy it is if the last can cure the mischiefs 
which the former hath entailed. Whilst you thus guaM 
your conduct as individuals, and I'ulfil your duties as 
citizens of the State, remember you are citizens of a 
great Republic, which also claims your allegiance. 
Remember too, that no where has Liberty so splendid 
a Temple erected to her service as in these United 
States, and that in vain shall the serpents of faction hiss 
around licr altar, if our people shall fully understand 
and duly appreciate her blessings. I know that I stand 
on sacred ground, and I assure you I would not even, 
if allowable, lead you into the })olitical meshes and 
partizan contentions of the day. But I think I am not 
\'iolating that which is due to the place and the occa- 
sion, when I call upon you to stand by your country 
and its Constitution — that Constitution, which as you 
have heard, cost the Conscri]:)t Fathers of the land 
such mighty eHbrts to establish. And whilst thus ex- 
horting you to a faithful discharge of your duty as 
citizens, I do not know that I could give you better 
counsel than that you should follow the advice of the 
wise, the good, and the illustrious Washington in his 
Farewell Address,and likewise that you should study the 
republican principles, sound and constitutional, as you 
shall find them recorded in President Jctlcrson's first 
Inaugural. These great names, "like the mountain 
cedar," will ever extend their protective branches over 
ihe land. And so long as the advice and ])riiicij)les, as 
oivcn ill ihesc JHnn(.trtu[ 'lucumciits, sliull 1"j lollowcl 



43 



out and adhered to, the Constitution of the land, tho 
Union of the States, the rights and Hberties of tho 
people will remain fixed and immutable, like the firm 
rock, resisting the assaults of the ocean and Inddin.p 
defiance to the depredations of time. 



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